Barnes,  Jasper  C. 

The  influences  of  the  change  of 
the  industrial  systems  of  the 
South  on  the  development  of 
personality  in  the  Afro-America 


The  Influences  of  the  Change  of  the  Industrial 
Systems  of  the  South  on  the  Development 
of  Personality  in  the  Afro-American. 


A THESIS 


f \ * 

PRESENTED  B Y 


Jasper  C.  Barnes,  Ph.  D., 

Professor  of  Pedagogy,  Maryville  College,  Maryville,  Tenn. 


For  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  on  Examination,  in  the  Post-Graduate 
Department,  Course  A,  Philosophy,  of  the  University  of 
Wooster,  June.  1900. 


Reprinted  from  the  Post-Graduate  and  Wooster  Quarterly,  April,  1900. 


WOOSTER,  OHIO; 

THE  HERALD  PRINTING  CO. 


INFLUENCES  OF  TEE  CHANGE  OF  THE  INDUS- 

TBIAL  SYSTEMS  OF  THE  SOUTH  ON  THE 
DEVELOPMENT  OF  PERSONA  LITY 
IN  THE  AFEO-AMERICAN. 

Professor  Jasper  C.  Barnes,  Ph.  D.,  Maryville,  College,  Mary- 
ville, Tenn. 

A Graduating  Thesis;  Course  A,  Philosophy. 

The  development  of  the  American  Negro  from  a barbar- 
ous state  to  the  highest  degree  of  modern  civilization  fur- 
nishes a fertile  field  for  sociological  study.  The  Negro  was 
thrust  into  the  midst  of  modern  civilization,  though  he  had 
done  almost  nothing  to  produce  that  civilization.  The  negro 
problem  is,  therefore,  unique.  The  history  of  mankind 
demonstrates  the  truth  that  all  genuine  development  has  been 
attained  by  hard  work.  The  careers  of  Germany,  France, 
England  and  the  United  States  are  good  exemplifications  of 
this  truth.  The  three  first  nations  mentioned  struggled  for 
centuries  to  attain  their  present  high  state  of  civilization. 
They  have  earned  their  present  privileges  at  the  cost  of  all 
the  labor  of  which  human  beings  are  capable.  The  social 
status  of  the  American  negro  is  the  result  of  a very  different 
process.  His  civilization  is  an  engrafted  one.  To  trace  the 
development  of  his  personality,  it  is  necessary  to  go  a little 
back  of  his  emancipation.  The  investigator  must  know  the 
Negro’s  condition  at  that  time,  and  the  traits  that  he  ac- 
quired during  his  bondage,  a period  during  which  individual 
action  was  unknown  to  him. 

Personality  is  an  indefinite  and  variable  quantity ; hence 
a concise  definition  of  it  cannot  be  given.  It  varies  in  mean- 
ing from  the  vague  conscious  experiences  of  the  lower  types 
of  humanity  and  of  children  to  the  clear  and  vivid  experiences 
of  the  wisest  men.  Prof.  James  Mark  Baldwin  says:  “A  per- 


2 


Development  of  Personality 


son  stands  for  a group  of  experiences  quite  unstable  in  its 
prophetic  as  in  its  historical  meaning.”  Each  person,  then, 
stands  for  an  indefinite  and  varied  number  of  experiences 
linked  together  in  consciousness. 

The  writer’s  first  thesis  is,  that  work  is  the  most  impor- 
tant factor  in  the  development  of  personality.  That  is,  that 
work  in  its  various  forms  affords  more  of  the  conscious  exper- 
periences  that  make  us  what  we  are,  than  does  any  other  one 
kind  of  experiences,  and,  if  we  take  work  in  its  broadest 
sense,  its  influence  is  greater  than  is  that  of  all  others 
combined.  The  term  work  signifies  physical  or  intellectual 
effort  in  which  the  end  lies  outside  the  immediate.  Its  effect 
Is  to  bind  together  the  past,  present  and  future.  Play,  then, 
may  become  work  whenever  its  activities  are  directed  toward 
an  end  outside  of  the  immediate.  The  professional  base-ball 
player  furnishes  a good  example  of  this  fact;  the  chief  object 
of  his  play  is  to  gain  a livelihood. 

Is  the  group  of  experiences  occasioned  by  work  a more 
important  factor  in  the  development  of  the  individual  con- 
sciousness than  is  the  group  of  experiences  occasioned  by 
play?  The  games  of  children  afford  excellent  training  for 
the  work  of  manhood.  Children  should  be  taught  to  play  by 
system.  This  habit  will  help  them  to  work  by  system.  Just 
as  instincts  ripen  and  pass  over  into  reason,  so  the  activities 
of  play  may  be  made  to  pass  over  into  the  higher  activities  of 
of  work.  Early  in  life,  at  least  before  our  maturity,  we 
must  choose  our  occupation,  if  we  hope  to  succeed;  our 
thoughts  and  our  acts  must  be  directed  toward  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  end  we  have  in  view.  It  is  a maxim  that 
the  education  of  the  child  should  begin  three  generations  be- 
fore its  birth.  To  begin  ten  generations  before  its  birth  would 
be  still  better. 

Heredity  wields  a powerful  influence  in  the  deyelopment 
of  mankind;  tendencies  are  transmitted  to  succeeding  gener- 
ations whose  whole  future  seems  to  be  directed  by  the  devel- 
opment of  inborn  tendencies.  Tendencies  to  form  habits  of 
gesture,  modes  of  walking,  smiling,  eating,  talking  and  the 
like,  are  transmitted  from  parent  to  child,  and  seem  to  in- 
fluence the  action  of  that  child  so  strongly  that  one  might 
think  that  all  bis  personality  depends  upon  its  ancestors,  and 


in  the  Afro-American. 


S 


that  he  might  well  exclaim:  “Nihil  est  in  puero  quod  non 
prius  in  parenti.”  But  what  was  the  cause  of  these  habitp, 
manners  and  tendencies  of  the  parents?  Occupation,  employ- 
ment, work.  The  tendency  to  activity  is  inherent,  but  the 
individual  is  enlarged  and  developed  by  activity;  work 
being  a necessary  activity  wields  the  greatest  influence. 
The  occupations  of  a people  indicate  to  a large 
extent,  their  physical,  intellectual  and  moral  condition. 
Or,  to  put  it  more  accurately,  the  degree  of  perfection  reached 
in  their  various  vocations  is  an  index  to  their  civilization. 
Mind  and  body  develop  by  action.  Work  is  the  occasion  of 
systematic  effort  and  activity,  and  by  repetition  habits  are 
formed.  In  accordance  with  the  law  of  habit  in  the  nervous 
system,  the  activities  occasioned  by  work  plow  a deeper 
groove  in  the  nervous  structure,  and  so  deyelop  a more  defin- 
ite and  stable  personality  than  do  play  and  other  kinds  of 
activity.  The  habits  of  systematic  work  change  the  ten- 
dencies of  the  individual  and  these  tendencies  are 
transmitted  to  off-spring,  and  in  this  way  work  is 
indirectly  the  cause  of  many  hereditary  traits.  The  activities 
of  ordinary  manual  labor,  after  they  are  once  learned,  are 
carried  on  chiefly  by  the  lower  nerve  centers;  and,  if  the 
individual  thus  engaged  does  not  supplement  his  conscious- 
ness with  other  things,  he  will  become  narrow  in  his  intellec- 
tual nature. 

If  work,  then,  is  the  most  important  factor  in  the  devel- 
opment of  personality,  the  elevation  of  the  Negro  will  be 
accomplished  only  in  so  far  as  his  literary  and  his  industrial 
education  go  hand  in  hand.  All  other  races  have  worked  and 
fought  for  every  step  in  their  progress.  It  is  true  that 
their  progress  has  been  slow.  All  genuine  advancement 
is  slow.  The  rights  and  privileges  enjoyed  by  the 
people  of  Germany,  France  and  England,  haye  cost  cen- 
turies of  toil  and  hardships.  History  teems  with  accounts 
of  valiant  deeds.  In  the  United  States,  a man’s  real  worth 
measures  his  social  and  civil  standing.  He  stands  where  he 
himself  has  climbed.  The  Negro  is  an  exception  to  this  rule; 
his  history  is  a savage,  a slave,  a freeman.  The  last  two 
steps  were  not  taken  by  himself;  another  took  them  for  him. 
Citizenship,  with  its  rights,  privileges  and  burdens  was,  with- 


Development  of  Personality 


4 

out  effort  on  his  part,  thrust  upon  him.  This  has  no  parallel 
in  the  history  of  civilization. 

1.  The  Period  of  Bondage.  What  were  the  in- 
fluences of  slavery  upon  the  Negro?  A Southern  his- 
torian says:  “Under  its  influences  they  (the  slaveholders) 
saw  hundreds  of  thousands  of  African  savages  civilized 
and  Christianized;  and  many  of  them  thought  it  the 
greatest  missionary  agent  the  world  had  ever  known  !”  This 
is  a startling  statement  to  be  made  in  the  dawn  of  the  twen- 
tieth century;  and  yet  while  intelligent  people  hold  such 
views,  their  views  must  not  be  disregarded  in  the  considera- 
tion of  the  great  problem.  Upon  careful  investigation,  the 
writer  finds  that  a very  small  per  cent  of  the  slaves  were  thus 
Christianized  and  civilized  by  the  influence  of  their  masters. 
A few  old  slaves  have  told  the  inyestigator  personally  of  the 
good  influences  and  of  the  kind  treatment  given  them  by  their 
masters.  But  those  masters  formed  the  class  that  finally 
either  gave  or  sold  the  slave  his  freedom.  Such  good  men,  of 
course,  could  easily  believe  slavery  to  be  a missionary  agent ; 
and  it  was,  so  far  as  they  were  concerned ; true,  their  number 
was,  perhaps,  greater  than  we  now  believe  it  to  have  been. 
But  the  history  of  slavery  shows  that  it  has  been  neither  a 
Christianizing  nor  a civilizing  agent.  Forcible  seizure  in  Africa, 
cruel  exportation  and  coercive  enslavement,  tended  to  emascu- 
late the  negro  of  all  noble  aspirations.  His  Caucasian  master 
compelled  him  to  live  in  tbe  midst  of  civilization,  and  yet  he 
did  not  permit  the  negro  to  enjoy  its  blessings.  Laws  were 
enacted  making  it  a penal  offence  to  teach  a negro  to  read ; 
he  was  kept  thus  in  ignorance  and  abject  slavery.  These 
influences,  in  no  manner,  tended  either  to  civilize  or  to  Chris- 
tianize him. 

During  his  bondage,  the  Negro  was  excluded  from  all  the 
professions,  from  mercantile  transactions,  and  from  all  the 
pursuits  in  which  skilled  labor  was  required.  For  two  and 
one  half  centuries,  or  from  1619  to  1865,  his  development  was 
due  almost  entirely  to  two  occupations, — agriculture  and  per- 
sonal seryice.  Individual  personality  and  independent  action 
were  unknown  to  him.  In  his  native  tribes  the  Negro  was 
obliged  to  do  as  his  chief  commanded,  and  in  slavery  he  was 
compelled  to  do  as  his  master  directed.  The  influence  of 


in  the  Afro-American. 


6 


heredity  during  these  periods  counts  as  a negative  quantity  for 
the  Negro.  His  work  and  his  environments  developed  in  him 
some  elements  of  positive  value. 

The  first  of  these  influences  was  the  work  of  agriculture, 
that  is,  the  mere  drudgery  of  agriculture,  for  he  was  not  per- 
mitted to  engage  in  the  intellectual  part  of  it.  All  persons 
learn  largely  by  imitation,  and  this  is  especially  true  of  the 
Negro;  he  is  an  imitator.  His  first  attempts  in  agriculture 
were  attempts  at  imitation.  But  these  attempts  brought  him 
conscious  experiences  of  success  or  failure.  The  former  pro- 
duced in  him  a state  of  satisfaction  and  confidence;  the  latter, 
disappointment  and  distrust.  Failure  to  imitate  exactly  the 
acts  of  another  is  frequently  more  valuable  to  the  individual 
than  are  the  exact  imitations;  for  the  failure  results  in  a new 
experience  which,  in  a somewhat  different  manner,  accomp- 
lishes the  end  in  view.  And  this  new  experience  becomes 
original  knowledge  to  the  individual.  Each  effort  to  repro- 
duce or  to  perform  a given  act  is  an  invention  peculiar  to  the 
individual  imitator.  The  Negro  acquired  some  originality  in 
the  simplest  form  of  work.  In  the  mere  drudgery  of  plowing 
and  hoeing,  sowing  and  reaping,  planting  and  picking,  new 
acts  and  ideas,  and  new  habits  became  a part  of  his  personal 
self. 

Personal  service  yielded  a greater  force  in  the  Negro’s 
elevation  than  did  the  occupation  of  agriculture.  The  more 
docile  slaves  were  used  for  this  service;  and  in  considering 
the  educational  influence  of  such  service,  we  must  not  overlook 
this  fact.  Being  more  teachable  than  the  others,  and  coming 
in  closer  contact  with  their  cultured  masters,  they  acquired 
quite  a number  of  the  traits  of  civilization.  The  personal  ser- 
vice slaves  with  their  newly  acquired  culture  tended  by  their 
example  to  elevate  the  less  favored  of  their  race.  In  short, 
they  learned  the  culinary  arts,  the  household  duties,  the  toil- 
ette and  the  etiquette  of  the  most  highly  civilized  race. 

The  statement  of  the  Southern  historian  that  slavery  was 
a civilizing  agent  is  not  wholly  false.  Even  drudgery  under 
the  direction  of  an  overseer  developed  habits  of  doing  certain 
things  at  fixed  times  and  in  a definite  manner,  and  so  tended 
to  build  up  a definite  personality.  Personal  service  developed 
habits  of  politeness,  and  gentility,  while  constant  contact  with 


6 


Development  of  Personality 


people  of  superior  attainments  developed  the  power  of  imita- 
tion. Slavery  developed  three  good  characteristics  in  the 
Negro:  his  imitative  instinct,  the  habit  of  work,  and  the  habit 
of  politeness. 

Work,  imitation,  and  politeness  are  the  valuable  results  of 
his  bondage.  But  personality  stands  for  a bundle  of  experi- 
ences; and  so  it  is  necessary  to  consider  his  bad  acquisitions 
as  well  as  his  good  ones.  The  first  bad  habit  for  which 
slavery  is  responsible,  and  perhaps  the  most  detrimental  to  the 
race,  was  the  almost  total  disregard  of  the  marital  and  family 
relations.  The  fundamental  principle  of  modern  Christian 
civilization,  the  basis  of  both  Church  and  State,  was  not  con- 
sidered applicable  to  the  Negro.  As  a rule,  his  marriage  was 
little  more  than  a mating:  whenever  the  master  thought  it  ad- 
vantageous to  sell  the  so-called  husband  and  wife  and  chil- 
dren, they  were  widely  separated  at  his  will.  So  the  con- 
sciousness resulting  from  the  faithful  keeping  of  the  marriage 
vow  and  the  joy  in  caring  for  loved  ones  in  the  home  were  al- 
most entirely  wanting  in  the  Negro.  The  other  day,  the 
writer  asked  an  old  slave  who  had  been  put  on  the  block  seven 
different  times,  and  sold  to  the  highest  bidder,  how  he  felt  at 
such  times.  He  replied.  “I  got  so  I did  not  care  what  they  did 
with  me.”  All  confidence  and  self  respect  was  gone.  But 
this  auction  business  was  not  the  worst  practice:  it  was  a 
common  custom,  in  order  to  improve  the  stock,  to  select 
choice  males  for  breeding  purposes,  just  as  farmers  select  male 
calves  or  colts  for  that  purpose.  Some  negroes  who  were  used 
in  that  way  are  still  living.  This  practice  shows  that  the 
personal  purity  of  the  slave  was  totally  disregarded.  In  view 
of  the  fact  that  the  Negro  was  taught  impurity  for  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years,  we  can  not  expect  him  to  attain  purity  in 
the  thirty-five  years  of  freedom.  The  influence  of  heredity  is 
too  great  for  that  miracle  to  be  possible. 

Slavery  is  responsible  also  for  the  Negro’s  disposition  to 
steal,  the  next  bad  habit  acquired  during  the  period  of  servi- 
tude. In  his  native  condition,  the  Negro  was  as  little  ad- 
dicted to  this  fault  as  was  any  other  race  on  the  globe.  The 
missionary  Grout  says : “There  is,  perhaps,  no  more  astonish- 
ish  trait  of  the  Kafir  character,  at  least  so  far  as  the  tribes 
surrounding  Natal  are  concerned,  than  the  scrupulous  honesty 


in  the  Afro-American. 


7 


of  almost  every  individual.”  Of  course,  Kafirland  is  a very 
small  part  of  Africa,  but  the  Kafirs  are  evidently  fair  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Negro  race.  It  is  a common  saying  among 
Southern  people  that  all  Negroes  will  steal.  The  writer’s 
observations  haye  been  that,  in  the  same  or  similar  financial 
circumstances  and  conditions,  the  percentage  of  negroes  that 
steal  is  no  greater  than  is  that  of  the  Caucasians.  But  the 
Negro  himself  is  stolen  property  ; for  two  and  a half  centuries 
the  products  of  his  labor  were  taken  from  him,  and  so  it  is 
easy  to  see  how  he  justifies  his  own  thefts.  There  are  honest 
negroes  just  as  there  are  honest  white  people.  As  fast  as  the 
colored  people  are  educated  and  Christianized,  they  become 
good,  honest,  and  useful  citizens. 

II.  The  Period  of  Freedom.  The  sudden  emancipa- 
tion of  the  four  million  slaves  of  the  United  States  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  events  in  the  world’s  history.  To  under- 
stand fully  the  development  of  the  Negro,  it  is  necessary  to 
keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  work  is  the  most  important  factor 
in  the  development  of  personality.  In  the  following  discus- 
sion, the  writer’s  aim  is  to  show  the  influences  of  the  change 
from  slavery  to  freedom  upon  the  development  of  the  Negro’s 
personality. 

Emancipation  opened  five  great  institutions  for  the  per- 
sonal development  of  the  Negro:  the  family,  the  school,  the 
church,  civil  society,  and  the  State. 

The  first  important  effect  of  emancipation  upon  the 
Negro  was  the  change  in  his  home  life  and  in  his  family  rela- 
tions. The  family  is  the  basic  element  of  a community.  All 
genuine  development  begins  in  the  individual.  The  good 
seed  must  be  planted  and  cultivated  in  the  home.  If  this 
truth  be  a fundamental  principle  it  follows  that  the  home  is 
the  real  starting  point  of  the  Negro’s  development;  for  as  a 
rule,  prior  to  his  emancipation,  the  marital  relation  was  for 
him  a mere  mating,  and  not  a sacred  ordinance.  He  began 
his  new  family  life  with  a very  loose  idea  of  its  duties  and 
sacred  obligations.  Deprived  of  mental  and  moral  develop- 
ment under  the  degrading  and  baleful  influences  of  slavery 
for  two  and  one-half  centuries,  nevertheless  the  Negro  is  now 
rapidly  learning  virtue.  The  writer  does  not  mean  to  say 
that  the  great  masses  of  the  colored  race  are  chaste,  but 


8 


Development  of  Personality 


judgirg  from  statistics  collected  for  him  by  educated,  Chris- 
tian men  of  the  negro  race,  he  belieyes  that  a goodly  number 
of  the  race  are  liying  chaste  liyes.  The  truth  is,  that  the  per 
cent  of  chaste  negroes  is  more  nearly  equal  to  that  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons  than  one  would  think ; for  impure  practices  of 
the  latter  in  society  circles  are  passed  in  silence.  But  Mary- 
ville affords  exceptional  opportunities  for  education  and  moral 
training,  and  so  we  can  not,  perhaps,  form  a general  induction 
from  conditions  found  within  its  limits.  Hoffman  tell  us  that 
fifty  per  cent  of  the  Negro  children  born  in  Richmond,  Vir- 
ginia, die  before  they  are  one  year  old.  He  believes  that  the 
cause  of  this  mortality  is  due  to  “enfeebled  constitutions  and 
congenital  diseases,  inherited  from  parents  suffering  from  the 
effects  of  sexual  immorality  and  debauchery.”  The  same 
writer  says  that  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  Negro  children 
born  in  Washington  are  illegitimate.  This  laxity  was  prac- 
ticed for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years;  we  need  not  hope  to 
eradicate  it  in  thirty-fiye  years,  no,  nor  in  a hundred  and 
thirty-five  years.  This  state  of  affairs  still  leaves  the  other 
seyenty-five  per  cent  with,  at  least,  a chance  to  cultivate 
purity  and  chastity.  The  influence  of  Christian  education  is 
a mighty  power  in  developing  chastity  in  the  Negro ; but  in 
order  for  this  development  to  endure,  industrial  education 
must  go  hand  in  hand  with  it.  A large  per  cent  of  the 
negroes  are  learning  to  live  virtuous  lives ; and,  since  their 
emancipation,  all  of  them  are  conscious  of  their  priyilege  and 
power  to  live  such  lives.  Personality  is  a bundle  of  conscious 
experiences,  and  the  experience  mentioned  above  is  one  of 
fundamental  importance. 

In  the  January  (1898)  number  of  the  United  States  Bul- 
letin of  Labor,  Prof.  DuBois  shows  that  the  average  negro 
family  of  Farmyille,  Virginia,  consists  of  five  members ; that 
the  school  attendance  of  the  children  between  the  ages  of  six 
and  twenty  years  is  only  forty-six  per  cent  of  the  school  pop- 
ulation; and  that  some  of  these  enrolled  pupils  attend  school 
for  a few  days  only  during  the  year.  Statistics,  collected 
from  fifty- fiye  families  in  Maryville,  show  that  the  average 
negro  family  consists  of  five  members. 

The  following  tables  are  the  results  of  careful  investiga- 
tion of  fifty- five  families  of  Maryville,  Blount  County,  Ten- 


in  the  Afro- American. 


9 


nessee.  The  facts  were  obtained  by  educated  negroes,  and  are 
as  nearly  correct  as  can  be  obtained. 

Blount  County,  of  which  Maryville  is  the  county  seat, 
has  a population  of  17,589,  1632  of  whom  are  negroes.  The 
population  of  Maryville  can  not  be  given  accurately,  because 
the  town  is  not  incorporated,  but  it  is  estimated  at  2509,  600 
of  whom  are  negroes:  this  estimate  includes  a number  of 
suburban  residents.  The  following  table  shows  (a)  the  real 
family,  i.  e.,  the  parents  and  all  children  living  at  present;  (b) 
the  economic  family,  i.  e.,  all  persons  related  and  unrelated, 
living  together  in  one  home  under  conditions  of  family  life. 


NUMBER  OF  FAMILIES  BY  SIZE  IN  MARYVILLE,  TENNESSEE. 


Size  of  Family. 

The  Real  Family. 

The  Economic  Family. 

Families. 

Persons. 

Families. 

Persons. 

1 Member, 

2 

2 

4 

4 

2 Members, 

5 

10 

7 

14 

3 Members,  . 

3 

9 

6 

18 

4 Members, 

1 

4 

7 

28 

5 Members,  . 

10 

59 

12 

60 

6 Members,  . ^ 

3 

18 

3 

18 

7 Members.  . 

10 

70 

7 

49 

8 Members, 

4 

32 

2 

16 

9 Members,  . 

5 

45 

5 

45 

10  Members, 

3 

30 

... 

11  Members,  . 

4 

44 

2 

22 

12  Members, 

2 

24 

.. 

... 

13  Members,  . 

1 

13 

... 

... 

14  Members, 

2 

28 

... 

Totals, 

55 

379 

55 

274 

Average, 

6.89 

5.02 

The  average  results  obtained  from  this  table  do  not  differ 
materially  from  the  results  of  the  similar  investigations  of  the 
condition  of  the  negroes  of  Farmville,  Virginia,  made  by  Prof. 
DuBois.  As  Prof.  DuBois  says,  “The  size  of  the  real  family 
comes  nearest  to  being  a real  test  of  the  fecundity  of  the  race 
under  present  conditions,  while  the  economic  family  shows  the 
results  of  the  present  economic  conditions.”  It  is  the  economic 
family  with  which  we  are  concerned ; it  shows  the  results  of 
freedom. 


10 


Development  of  Personality 


PER  CENT  OF  NEGRO  FAMILIES  OF  MARYVILLE,  TENN., 
OF  FARMVILLE,  VA.,  AND  OF  THE  ENTIRE  UNITED 
STATES. 


Size  of  Family. 

Negroes  of 
Maryville. 

Negroes  of 
Farmville. 

U.  S. 

1 Member, 

7.27 

4 96 

3.  63 

2 to  6 Members, 

63.63 

72.90 

73  33 

7 to  10  Members, 

25  45 

19.47 

20.  97 

11  Members  and  over, 

3 64 

2.67 

2.07 

The  houses,  which  the  fifty-five  Negro  families  of  Mary- 
ville accupy,  vary  from  two  to  eight  rooms  each  in  size. 

The  following  table  shows  the  distribution  of  families  by 
size  of  family  and  number  of  rooms  to  the  dwellings  they  oc- 
cupy: 


FAMILIES,  BY  SIZE  OF  FAMILY,  AND  NUMBER  OF  ROOMS 
TO  A DWELLING. 


Families  occupying  dwellings  of 

H 

o 

Size  of  Family. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

rm. 

rm  s 

rms 

rms 

rms 

rm  s 

rm  s 

r ms 

1 Member,  . , 

1 

2 

1 

4 

2 Members, 

... 

2 

2 

1 

1 

i 

7 

3 Members, 

.... 

i 

1 

2 

2 

6 

4 Members, 

2 

3 

.... 

2 

.... 

7 

5 Members, 

1 

1 

5 

2 

3 

.... 

12 

6 Members, 

2 

1 

.... 

.... 

... 

3 

7 Members, 

i 

1 

2 

2 

.... 

1 

7 

8 Members, 

.... 

1 

1 

2 

9 Members, 

1 

3 

.... 

.... 

1 

5 

10  Members, 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

.... 

0 

11  Members, 

i 

1 

.... 

2 

Total  Families, 

8 

11 

14 

8 

9 

1 

4 

55 

Total  Rooms. 

16 

33 

56 

40 

54 

7 

32 

238 

This  table  shows  that  the  one-room  cabin  of  the  days  of 
slavery  is  rapidly  disappearing.  The  larger  and  better  houses 
add  comfort  and  health  to  the  Negro.  They  furnish  oppor- 
tunities for  larger  and  broader  intellectual  and  moral  culture; 
they  present  opportunities  for  aesthetic  culture;  the  large 
number  of  rooms  provides  separate  bedrooms;  the  report  shows 
that  most  of  the  Negro  families  investigated  in  Maryville 
hayefrom  two  to  three  separate  bedrooms;  these  are  conducive 
to  health  and  to  that  purity  which  the  Negro  needs  to  learn 
in  order  to  eradicate  the  influences  of  slavery. 

Forty-six  of  the  fifty- five  families  mentioned  in  this  re 


in  the  Afro-Americvn. 


11 


port  own  their  houses,  and  nine  rent  the  houses  they  occupy. 
The  estimated  values  of  the  homes  of  the  different  families 
range  from  $100  to  $1500,  the  average  being  about  $350.  The 
writer  does  not  think  the  estimated  values  given  in  the  reports 
sufficiently  accurate  to  warrant  the  giving  of  a table  showing 
the  values.  The  remarkable  and  instructive  part  of  the  report 
is  the  large  number  of  families  that  own  their  homes.  This  is 
partly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  information  was  obtained  by 
the  ministers  and  prominent  teachers  of  the  town,  and  so  the 
report  is  probably  made  up  largely  of  the  members  of  the 
church  and  school.  But,  nevertheless,  the  report  gives  impor- 
tant information  regarding  the  development  of  the  Negro’s 
personality.  The  consciousness  of  ownership  makes  him  re- 
spect his  own  ability  and  powers,  and  causes  him  to  be  re- 
spected by  other  people.  This  power  of  independent  action 
and  ownership  was  not  possessed  by  him  during  slavery. 


NUMBER  OF  FAMILIES,  BY  SIZE  OF  ECONOMIC  FAMILY, 
AND  ANNUAL  INCOMES. 


Annual  Incomes. 

Families  of  (below) 
members. 

Totah 

1 

2 

o 

O 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

* 

Less  than  $100, 

$100  to  $150,  .... 

$150  to  $200 

"i 

1 

2 

"i 

.... 

2 

.... 

.... 

1 

1 

5 

2 

$200  to  $250,  .... 

l 

1 

7 

1 

1 

.... 

12 

$250  to  $350,  .... 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

2 

9 

$350  to  $500,  .... 

2 

3 

2 

3 

3 

1 

i" 

.... 

15 

Over  $500,  .... 

2 

l 

4 

1 

1 

l 

1 

11 

Total  Families, 

4 

7 

5 

5 

17 

2 

5 

4 

4 

2 

55 

NUMBER  OF  FAMILIES.  BY  SIZE  OF  FAMILY,  AND  ANNUAL 

SAYINGS. 


Annual  Savings. 

Families  of  (below) 
members. 

Total 

Families. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

Less  than  $25,  .... 

1 

1 

2 

$25  to  $50,  .... 

$50  to  $100 

2 

"4 

... 

3 

2 

1 

1 

1 

7 

7 

$100  to  $150 

Over  $150, 

1 

"i 

1 

1 

... 

3 

1 

Totals,  .... 

2 

5 

1 

5 

3 

2 

2 

20 

Development  of  Personality 


IS 


The  last  two  tables  are  better  understood  when  they  are 
read  in  connection  with  figures  as  to  the  cost  and  scale  of 
living  in  the  community.  The  following  is  a price  list  of 
commodities  usually  bought  by  Negroes.  The  data  were  fur- 
nished by  the  grocers  of  Maryville. 


w 

i— i 

> 

Pi 

< 

3 


H 

< 

oo 

W 

i— i 

H 

IM 

Q 

O 

3 

3 

o 

o 

Pm 

O 

oo 

W 

O 

i— i 

Pi 

Ph 


OlOO  OOOCOMIO  lOOiOlO  ooo 

tDHH  HCOHOHH  IMiOOO  OOO 

lO  to  © 

© 

© 

ooo  o o o o 

-+J 

oo  oooo  ooo 

Pm 

0u510lfll0®00i000®"0l0'l'fl0  00  0 
■^,OOOOO*Ci-iOOO(-H^,ooOi0OH0i0 

HCCW 

Unit. 

® fl  2 « 5 . . +2  . • . 

.a  ©J2  .aecanc„>4.ai2!D.T3  .j3x 

UON  — o!«03DSD33uOc|54«Sp,Q«o 
ao«  33  CS000000®C8  0CS00<*<S 
P5QO  &&O  Ph  Ph  Ph  Ph  Ph  Ph  P5  C?0  OHWH 

* CD 
© 

Article, 

Potatoes, 

Green  Corn, 
Tomatoes,  . 
Peas, 

Beans, 

Canned  Goods, 
Tea, 

Coffee, 

Sugar,  . 

Lard, 

Butter, 

Salt, 

Apples, 
Watermelons, 
Milk,  . 

Soap, 

Wood  Uncut, 
Coal  Bitum. 
Men’s  Suits, 
Women’s  Dress 

OONWiOiOMO 

HwHHnlNOlO 

101^CC<M©00©©©© 

rHOOr-HOC^rH^OC^O 

CO  to 

© 

V 

oooooooo 

ooooooooooo 

1m 

Ph 

lCCOCOOOOiOiO 

OOOi-h^hCMO*^ 

OiO(MO^iO»OiCOiOO 
r-HOO— 'O— ’000»— «o 

oi  rH 

bn 

Unit. 

•0  73  *0  73  . . ’O^  — .-0  73  C 73  73  g 73  . g . 

aaaGJZj3anZMaa<DGa°GT3°,^ 
a 3 a g o v a—  o a a n a a~  a « 

0000Si«0-H.aia)00000|S00'Sa! 
PhPhPjPhWwphSJppphPhPhPPhPhOPhOOW 

Food,  etc. 

Fresh  Pork, 

Pork  Steak,  . 
Beefsteak, 

Ham  and  Bacon,  . 
Chickens, 

Hens, 

Turkeys,  . 

Wheat  Flour, 

Wheat  Flour,  . 

Corn  Meal, 

Rice, 

Cabbage,  , 

Eggs, 

Apples  Dried, 

Pepper, 

Buttermilk,  . 

Starch, 

Wood,  Cut,  . 

Kerosene  Oil,  . 

Boys’  Suits.  . 

in  the  Afro-American. 


IS 


OCCUPATIONS  OF  HEADS  OF  FIFTY-FIVE  NEGRO  FAMILIES 
OF  MARYVILLE. 


Number  of 
Men. 

Number  of 
Women. 

Barbers,  

2 

Blacksmiths, 

2 

Bricklayers  and  Plasterers, 

5 

Carpenters, 

2 

Cooks 

2 

Draymen, 

i 

Farm  Laborers, 

li 

Housekeepers, 

34 

Janitors,  ■ . 

i 

Laborers, 

23 

Laundresses,  

... 

17 

Paperhangers,  

1 

Porters,  

2 

Teachers,  ...  

3 

2 

Teamsters, 

1 

Restaurant  Keeper 

1 

55 

55 

Eighty  five  per  cent  of  these  are  able  to  read  and  seventy- 
four  per  cent  can  write. 

Industry  is  the  first  element  to  be  attained  in  education; 
it  develops  power,  good  habits  and  positive  character.  In  all 
good  teaching,  recitation  and  laboratory  work  alternate;  and 
if  this  be  a true  principle  in  the  teaching  of  children  of  peo- 
ples that  have  developed  by  means  of  their  own  activity,  how 
how  much  more  necessary  it  is  that  the  Negro  be  taught  by 
means  of  the  industrial  system  ! His  civilization  is  engrafted, 
and  so  he  must  work  to  realize  what  it  is,  and  to  make  it  his 
own.  Industrial  knowledge  is  the  true  basis  of  all  progress. 
By  means  of  the  industrial  system,  the  Negro  can  gain  for 
himself  the  primary  principles  of  knowledge  and  culture,  a 
knowledge  of  concrete  things,  and  a mastery  over  the  material 
world.  Prof.  Kelly  Miller  wisely  says,  “Indeed,  the  higher 
phases  of  life  must  ever  rest  upon  a material  foundation.” 
The  intelligent  workman  is  able  to  earn  larger  wages  than 
his  ignorant  neighbor,  and  so  the  former  provides  better  op- 
portunities for  the  education  of  his  children.  The  descend- 
ants of  these  educated  children  are  prepared  still  better  for 
the  battles  of  life,  and  so  development  goes  on  and  on.  Those 
who  direct  work  of  Hampton  and  Tuskegee  institutes  have 
taken  advantage  of  this  primary  principle  of  education.  The 


H Development  of  Personality  [April, 

wisest  men  of  the  colored  race  advocate  industrial  education 
for  the  masses.  Atlanta,  Fiske  and  Howard  universities  are 
doing  admirable  work  in  the  realm  of  higher  education. 
These  are  institutions  for  the  choice  and  gifted  individuals  of 
the  race.  But  Prof.  Miller  says,  “The  locomotive  throws 
forward  the  rays  of  its  headlight  dispelling  the  encircling 
darkness,  in  order  that  its  mighty  engine  may  make  way  safely 
through  the  dangers  of  the  night.  The  Negro  needs  head- 
light to  direct  his  energies  and  make  way  through  the 
difficulties  and  intricacies  of  the  industrial  world.”  This  is  a 
beautiful  thought  and  throws  light  on  the  situation.  The 
necessary  headlight  must  be  acquired  by  means  of  instruction 
in  the  intricacies  and  difficulties  of  the  industrial  world ; of 
course,  intellectual  education,  as  given  in  the  common  schools, 
must  go  with  it.  “Headlight”  sufficient  to  direct  one’s  ener- 
gies is  essential  for  the  development  of  personality.  The  in- 
dustrial schools  are  furnishing  this  “headlight”  and  hand- 
light  for  the  masses.  We  would  not  deprive  the  choice  young 
men  of  the  race  of  a liberal  education ; but  these  are  very  few 
compared  to  the  masses.  In  the  most  highly  developed  races 
only  one  in  every  thousand  receives  a liberal  education;  the 
ratio  of  liberally  educated  Negroes  to  the  total  number  is  nec- 
essarily much  smaller.  These  few  must  be  leaders,  and  their 
number  must  necessarily  be  limited  until  the  common  people 
are  educated  and  elevated  by  the  example  and  instruction  of 
intelligent  and  skilled  workmen ; that  is,  persons  skilled  in 
the  common  work  of  life,  in  economy,  in  cleanliness  and  in 
purity. 

The  young  men  and  women  trained  in  the  industrial 
schools  are  inculcating  habits  of  industry  and  economy 
among  the  masses.  Industry  and  economy  enable  the  Negro 
to  own  his  home.  The  Eleventh  Census  shows  that  of  the 
farms  in  the  United  States  occupied  by  Negroes,  twenty-two 
per  cent  were  owned  by  their  occupants ; and  that  ninety  and 
four-tenths  per  cent  of  these  were  without  incumbrance.  The 
same  report  shows  that  seventy- one  and  seven-tenths  per  cent 
of  the  white  farmers  own  their  farms,  but  only  seventy-one 
and  three-tenths  per  cent  of  them  are  without  incumbrance. 
Nineteen  and  one-tenth  per  cent  of  the  homes  occupied  by 
Negroes  in  1890  were  owned  by  their  occupants,  and  only 


in  the  Afro-American. 


15 


twelve  and  three-tenths  per  cent  of  these  were  encumbered. 
Corresponding  figures  for  whites  were  thirty-nine  and  four- 
tenths  and  twenty-eight  and  seven-tenths  per  cent,  showing  a 
much  greater  proportion  of  free  holdings  among  the  colored 
than  among  whites.  This  shows  that  the  Negro  is  learning  to 
economize.  Booker  T.  Washington,  in  speaking  of  one  of  the 
graduates  of  the  Tuskegee  Industrial  School  says:  “Return- 
ing to  his  country  home,  he  taught  them  how  to  save  money, 
how  to  sacrifice — to  live  on  bread  and  potatoes  until  they 
could  get  out  of  debt,  begin  buying  a home  and  stop  mort- 
gaging.” This  young  man,  educated  in  the'industrial  school, 
lived  in  a model  cottage  on  a model  farm  in  the  midst  of  his 
people  and  taught  them  by  precept  and  example  to  live 
higher,  nobler,  more  intelligent,  more  useful  and  more  virtu- 
ous lives. 

The  Negro  is  learning  to  use,  economize,  and  possess  the 
material  resources  that  surround  him.  He  needs  intellectual 
and  moral  light  to  guide  and  to  elevate  him  in  his  work;  but 
the  material  world  must  furnish  the  resources  for  his  devel- 
opment. For  centuries,  he  lived  in  Africa  surrounded  by  the 
richest  of  natural  gifts;  but  being  unable  to  develop  these 
resources,  he  remained  a savage.  So  the  American  Indian 
had  at  his  command  the  fertile  soil,  the  salubrious  climate, 
the  navigable  riverB,  the  rich  mineral  deposit — the  unlimited 
resources  of  the  American  Continent,  and  still  he  remained  a 
savage,  because  he  had  not  the  inherent  power  to  develop 
them.  Now  the  Negro  has  not  only  all  these  resources  at  his 
command,  but  also  a superior  race  to  show  him  how  to  use 
them.  The  problem  is,  How  can  he  make  this  modern  civili- 
zation his  own?  The  answer  is,  By  means  of  industrial  edu- 
cation in  connection  with  his  intellectual  and  moral  training. 

Maryville  has  a public  school  for  Negro  children  with 
funds  sufficient  to  run  the  school  for  five  months  each  year, 
but  arrangements  have  been  made  with  the  Freedmen’s  Normal 
Institute  by  which  all  the  Negro  children  between  the  ages  of 
six  and  twenty-one  3’ears  may  attend  school  for  nine  months 
each  year.  This  arrangement  gives  them  opportunity  for 
nearly  double  the  amount  of  schooling  given  by  the  old  plan, 
and  also  affords  them  much  better  teachers. 

The  Negro  school  population  of  Maryville  is  two  hundred 


16 


Development  of  Personality 


and  one,  one  hundred  and  eight  of  whom  attend  school.  The 
following  table  shows  the  enrollment  fcr  the  first  five  months 
of  the  school  year  1899-1900: 


SCHOOL  ATTENDANCE  BY  AGE  AND  SEX. 


Males. 

Females. 

Totals. 

6 to  10  years,  .... 

24 

40 

64 

10  to  15  years, 

12 

20 

32 

Over  15  years,  .... 

4 

8 

12 

Totals 

40 

68 

108 

PER  CENT.  OF  ATTENDANCE. 


Males. 

Females. 

Average. 

August, 

88.88 

97.43 

93.15 

September, 

66 

92 

79 

October,  ...... 

77 

80 

78 

November 

81 

86 

83 

December, 

83.77 

86.31 

84.04 

These  figures  show  that  only  53.7  per  cent,  of  the  Negro 
school  population  of  Maryville  are  enrolled  in  the  schools,  and 
that  only  40  per  cent  of  the  children  of  school  age  are  in 
actual  attendance  each  day.  This  is  a better  record  than  is 
that  of  the  Farmville,  Virginia,  Negroes,  as  given  by  Prof. 
DuBois.  He  gives  the  enrollment  as  46  per  cent,  of  the  school 
population  between  the  ages  of  six  and  twenty  in  that  town. 
The  principal  of  the  Freedmen’s  Normal  Institute  of  Mary- 
ville says  that  the  great  need  of  his  school  is  an  industrial 
department. 

If  the  two  towns  mentioned  may  be  considered  as  repre- 
senting the  Negro’s  condition,  it  appears  that  about  one-half 
of  the  Negro  scholastic  population  are  in  school.  And  while 
a better  condition  of  affairs  should  obtain,  yet  the  present 
condition  is  infinitely  better  than  it  was  during  the  days  of 
slavery  when  the  slaves  were  not  taught  at  all;  for  the  educa- 
tion of  young  Negroes  is  transforming  their  homes.  After  a 
few  years  of  instruction,  the  children  usually  manage,  arrange 
and  direct  the  affairs  of  the  family. 

The  Church  is  the  center  of  the  most  highly  developed 
group  life  of  the  Negro.  It  furnishes  him  religious,  intellect- 


in  the  Afro-Americvn. 


17 


ual  and  social  training.  Negroes  spend  much  of  their  time  in 
the  church.  In  the  town  of  Maryville,  there  are  two  colored 
church  edifices — the  A.  M.  E.  Zion  and  the  Second  Presby- 
terian. 

The  A.  M.  E.  Zion  organization  owns  a good  frame  build- 
ing 45x65  feet,  with  a seating  capacity  of  four  hundred.  It 
has  a small  reed  organ  valued  at  a hundred  dollars,  and  a 
parsonage  valued  at  five  hundred  dollars.  The  first  story  of 
the  parsonage  contains  a sitting  room,  a dining  room,  a 
kitchen  and  a bedroom;  the  second  story,  a study  and  a bed 
room.  The  following  table  shows  the  membership  of  the 
church  by  sex  and  age: 


THE  A.  M.  E.  ZION  CHURCH. 


Members. 

Males. 

Fem  al  e s. 

Totals. 

Under  20  years  of  age, 

12 

18 

30 

20  to  30  years 

15 

22 

37 

30  to  40  years,  . . . , 

11 

19 

30 

40  to  50  years,  .... 

8 

14 

22 

Over  50  years,  .... 

7 

8 

15 

Totals,  .... 

35 

81 

134 

This  church’s  minister  is  a young  man  of  twenty-nine 
years;  he  is  a graduate  of  Livingston’s  College,  Salisbury, 
North  Carolina,  and  has  spent  one  year  in  the  theological 
seminary. 

The  Second  Presbyterian  church  owns  a good  frame  build- 
ing, 35x50x18  feet;  its  auditorium  seats  about  three  hundred 
people.  It  owns  a small  reed  organ.  Beneath  the  auditorium 
is  a basement  divided  into  two  rooms  for  school  purposes. 
This  gives  the  pastor  and  his  family  an  opportunity  to  conduct 
a school  in  connection  with  his  pastoral  work.  The  following 
table  shows  the  membership  of  this  church  by  sex  and  age: 


THE  SECOND  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 


Members. 

Males. 

Females. 

Totals. 

Under  20  years  of  sge, 

. 

6 

4 

10 

20  to  30  years. 

14 

19 

33 

30  to  40  years, 

, , 

3 

7 

10 

40  to  50  years, 

. . 

3 

4 

7 

50  years  and  over. 

8 

8 

16 

Totals,  .... 

34 

42 

76 

At  present  the  pulpit  is  vacant.  Their  former  pastor  was 


18 


Development  of  Personality 


a graduate  of  Lincoln  University  and  of  the  Western  Theolog- 
ical Seminary,  Allegheny,  Pennsylvania. 

The  pastors  of  these  two  churches  say  that  the  church 
forms  the  chief  social  group  for  the  Maryville  Negro.  Prof. 
DuBois  says,  “The  most  highly  developed  and  characteristic 
expression  of  Negro  group  life  in  Farmville,  Virginia,  and 
throughout  the  Union,  is  the  Negro  Church.”  Judging  from 
these  and  similar  investigations,  it  appears  that  the  group  of 
experiences  occasioned  by  the  church  life  of  the  Negro  is  an 
important  factor  in  his  personal  development.  And  while  it 
may  be  true  that  many  of  the  reported  conversions  are  crude 
and  many  of  their  social  acts  coarse,  yet  such  religious  influ- 
ences are  far  better  than  no  efforts  to  guide  and  curb  an  unde- 
veloped people.  This  influence  of  Christian  example  is  elevat- 
ing and  purifying  the  Negro’s  social  life.  The  result  is  that 
many  of  the  race  are  developing  strong  social,  intellectual  and 
spiritual  characters;  such  development  is  the  hope  of  the  race. 

Emancipation  enabled  the  Negro  to  construct  and  carry 
on  civil  society;  he  is  learning  the  art  of  self  restraint,  of 
purity,  of  honesty,  and  of  morality.  A large  majority  of  the 
race  have  not  yet  developed  these  virtues,  but  the  leaders  of 
the  race  possess  them,  and  so  these  good  traits  must  ultimately 
prevail,  for  those  persons  that  neglect  to  cultivate  them  must 
necessarily  perish  because  of  their  vices. 

Just  in  so  far  as  the  Negro  is  industrially,  intellectually 
and  morally  prepared,  he  will  take  his  rightful  part  in  the 
responsibilities  and  privileges  of  the  state.  As  fast  as  he  can 
acquire  property,  attain  skill  in  work,  develop  intelligence  and 
character,  he  will  increase  his  influence  in  the  state.  The 
wiser  men  of  the  race  are  concerned  more  about  being  pre- 
pared for  political  rights  than  they  are  about  the  exercise 
of  such  rights;  for  the  latter  must  follow  the  former.  Booker 
T.  Washington  says,  “It  is  right  and  important  that  all  the 
privileges  of  the  Constitution  should  be  ours;  but  is  vastly 
more  important  to  us  that  we  be  prepared  for  the  exercise  of 
those  privileges.” 

To  sum  up : 

The  Negro  is  engaged  chiefly  in  agriculture  or  personal 
service;  he  has  made  little  progress  in  manufacture,  transport- 
ation or  trade.  He  is,  however,  making  good  progress  in 


in  the  Afro-American. 


Id 


acquiring  property,  especially  farms  and  homes.  He  is  devel- 
oping a definite  personality.  He  is  overcoming  the  evil 
influences  of  slavery.  The  industrial  schools  are  the  leaders 
in  this  great  work.  Industrial,  intellectual  and  Christian 
training  is  making  his  character  broader,  deeper,  and  higher. 
Manual  training  alone  will  not  develop  him.  Professional  life 
must  necessarily  be  limited  until  the  masses  have  obtained 
substantial  industrial  training  and  sufficient  amount  of 
property  to  support  the  professions.  As  fast  as  the  Negro 
does  this,  there  is  no  reason  why  he  may  not  continue  to 
develop  and  enlarge  his  personality. 


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